12-year-old Ezidi girl rescued from IS in Mosul, reunited with family

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Another Yezidi (Ezidi) girl on Saturday was rescued from the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul and reunited with her family in the Kurdistan Region.

The Duhok office for liberating the kidnapped Ezidi people from IS announced the rescue of a 12-year-old girl from the insurgent group.

Hussein Qaidi, the head of the Duhok office, told Kurdistan24 her name was Sana Barakat Murad.

“With the help of some people in Mosul, we have rescued her on Saturday evening,” Qaidi told Kurdistan24.

“She has now been reunited with her family in Duhok,” he added.

According to Qaidi, Murad has forgotten the Kurdish language and is very scared.

She is from the Gir Ozer area in the Ezidi-populated city of Sinjar (Shingal).

IS controlled Shingal in August 2014 and committed mass executions against the Ezidi people as well as kidnapping and enslaving girls and women in the area.

In November 2015, Kurdish Peshmerga forces with the support of the US-led coalition warplanes liberated Shingal from the extremist group.

The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani’s office has rescued nearly 3,000 Ezidis from IS so far.

However, thousands of Ezidi girls and women remain under the control of IS in Iraq and Syria.

During a conference on Thursday, Ezidi survivor and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Nadia Murad expressed her dissatisfaction at the international response to IS’ crimes.

She said she was upset that 15 months into her testimony at the UN Security Council not a single IS militant was brought to justice for committing genocide against Ezidis and war crimes against humanity.

“My words, tears, and my testimony have not made you act. I wonder whether there is any point in continuing my campaign at all,” Murad lamented.

“I am physically and emotionally exhausted. Just like Farida, Lamia, Shireen, and many other [Ezidi] girls who have decided to speak up about IS’ crimes,” the Ezidi survivor continued.

“I have put my life on hold to seek justice, rather than focusing on my own recovery,” she concluded. “Our decision to speak up came at a great personal cost.”